BLOOD IN THE CHAMPAGNE-"We all just love making music and art, and it is somewhat cathartic for all of us. It brings us joy, and we want to share that joy and moments of magic with other people"

AS PART OF:

BLACK PLANET
25TH JULY TWO VENUES THREE STAGES 21 BANDS

O come, creatures of the night!
Bear witness to BLACK PLANET: A Celebration of Australian Dark Music.

Descending for the first time as a full-spectrum gathering of darkness, Black Planet hosts 3 stages across two iconic venues: The Bendigo Hotel & Nighthawks. Built for devotees of sonic extremity and shadow culture, this inaugural edition transforms the night into a living cathedral of sound, atmosphere, and chaos.

The night will be separated into 3 spaces:

The Ossuary (Bendi Main Room) - A shrine to brutality and all things heavy
The Void (Bendi Upstairs) - A chamber devoted to noise, ambient, drone and experimental
The Black Hearts Lodge (Nighthawks) - A sanctuary of goth, darkwave, post-punk and nocturnal romance


Headlining Black Planet 2026 is THE AMENTA - One of metal's most uncategorizable acts, THE AMENTA have been synthesising the ugliest aspects of death, black, and noise into a unique maelstrom for over 25 years. Well-known across the world for their intense live shows, THE AMENTA combine speed, anger, and a weird sound with smoke and strobes to create a brutal, overwhelming experience.

Joining them across the 3 stages are: Mammon’s Throne, Hybrid Nightmares, Victoria K, Küntsquäd, Bentham’s Head, Knife, Npcede, Živa, Inaugural, Chiffon Magnifique, Blood In The Champagne, Dystropolis, Palliative, Blood of a Pomegranate, Military Position, Anocht, AnnaBortionist, Serene Ailment, Angellis Taliuu, and Koolooz.

Black Planet doesn't do things by halves. Three rooms, two venues, twenty-one acts, one night — Melbourne's dark music underground getting the full-spectrum treatment it's arguably owed for a long time. What's striking flicking through the bill isn't just the volume of acts but the range: death-doom sitting a room away from noise and drone, which sits a room away from darkwave and post-punk, all of it filed under the one banner of Australian dark music without anyone pretending those things are the same thing. It's less a lineup than a map of how wide "dark" actually gets when you stop treating it as one genre.

ARTIST: BLOOD IN THE CHAMPAGNE

Blood In The Champagne are a three-piece out of Naarm blending post-punk urgency with gothic atmosphere, self-described as a band of rebels making musical art for social evolution. Formed in mid-2024 with members drawn from Turkey, New Zealand and the UK, their songwriting runs through class consciousness, capitalist realism, queerness and climate collapse — politics worn openly rather than smuggled in. Their mindblowing self-titled album landed in March 2026, following 2025's Evolve Like a Chrysalis EP, and slots them into the Black Hearts Lodge alongside a room built for exactly this — gothic romance with teeth. They are a resolute favourite to so many, because Blood in the Champagne is one of Australia's best bands.

INTERVIEW:

1. "Nocturnal romance" is a specific phrase to be filed under — darkness as seduction and ritual rather than pure aggression. Where does Blood In The Champagne sit in that, and where do you push against it?

Gabe: Great question! 

I’d say we sit very squarely in it at times – many of our songs are romantic, whimsical and dark. We are, after all, goths! But there are plenty of other sides to our work. We have songs that evoke mass movements, protest, anger and that confrontational side of our lefty swagger. When things get direct, I guess they just can’t really be romantic any more. But who wants romance all the time?!

I think these days, more than ever, it’s tempting to pigeonhole. The obsession with “finding your niche for the algorithm” has resulted in a lot of “copy/paste” music – distilled versions of a snapshot of 80s goth culture or 90s rave or whatever hauntological phantom is being chased. We like to get inspiration from the legends – Siouxsie and The Cure are great examples. Sure - they created very gothy, romantic, moody stuff. But they also went wild and experimental. They tried different things. I mean – Lovecats is just not goth. We admire that tenacity of artistic spirit.

2. Post-punk and darkwave carry a lot of inherited iconography at this point — is that a language Blood In The Champagne is consciously working inside, or something you're trying to strip back to zero?

Kymin: Not so much iconography in terms of symbols because we don’t really use those in connection to our music or as a band, except for chains; we wear these on stage. We use symbolic words and phrases rather, in our song titles to convey deeper meaning than what is apparent. For example, “ We walk the streets alone in this cold night, holding onto memories I try to fight” (fight the forces of oppression and fight the memories that haunt us)

In our art and imagery, we tend to use images that convey the feelings and emotions or politics behind the songs. We used the color red for our ep cover as it relates to the red dust of Australia and the red of the apocalypse. I  use skulls and crystals in our stage show as a temporary altar de faye and a special place we are creating in the gig, like putting some of our physical energy on the stage. 

The images that influence us are sort of dark, old and mysterious. We used old Victorian architecture for backdrops to our Black Dance video. We have skulls in a champagne glass on our t-shirt, which in a way represents the name of the band and the idea that there will be blood in the champagne of the rich capitalists as they choke on broken glass to their death or some such dramatic deathly notion. The T-shirt design was created by local artist Sasa Cuha! He is an amazing artist and musician. We love art and design and take inspiration from the old and new. 

3. Black Planet's being pitched as a "living cathedral of sound" — where does your most recent release, or whatever's next in the pipe, sit inside that? Anything dropping around the show we should know about first?

Gabe: I love that description. Partly because it’s so open to interpretation. You can apply it to a lot of different approaches to music, but can also get very inspired by it. I think our work can easily fit into that whole “cathedral” vibe. I mean, what do you think of first? Reverb. Space. Otherworldlyness. Timelessness. Yeah – I think that describes a lot of what we do.

We have an album in the pipeline, which we’re hoping to drop in February. There will be inevitable singles before then and hopefully a video.

There’s also a project we’re working on with some movers and shakers in the scene. But it’s at a very early stage, and we don’t want to give anything away yet. I guess all we can say is that if it goes well,it will hopefully help further cultivate this already incredible, burgeoning scene.

4. This is billed as a celebration of Australian dark music specifically. What does that qualifier — Australian — actually mean to what Blood In The Champagne does, if anything? And why does this underground still matter to you, this far in?

Adem: As a band, Blood in the Champagne believes in the unifying power of music and art that can connect people across regional boundaries and different cultures. The members of our band come from three different continents and diverse backgrounds. This has shown us that art is a picture composed of different colours and themes.

Similarly, we don’t believe it is right to confine the audience we address solely to the label of ‘Australia’. Even though the dark Australian music is very unique and takes its influence from this land and beyond. We love that vibe and that all the bands are from different genres and places. 

 Also, being part of the underground scene has allowed us to meet people who are open, creative and diverse and don’t create music to the confines of popular culture; they put their souls into their art. 

Although it is called the ‘underground’, this place is an atmosphere filled with quality people and individuals who wish to experience music that carries an ideological purpose. 

The ‘Naarm underground scene’ as we know it is not a collective where anyone is seen as the ‘other’ or where things are done that are not meant to be done above ground. We love this place.

5. Bendigo and Nighthawks are two venues, three rooms, one night. What are you actually trying to do to a room when you play it — what's the physical or psychic effect you're chasing?

Adem: Of course, the organisers are better placed to answer that question. We feel that the quality work produced by local bands in Melbourne isn’t given the attention it deserves. This event, in a way, brings local bands together and allows the audience to experience music across three different stages and in various styles all in one night. As a band, what we’re striving for is to be a part of this event and to carry it forward with pride.

6. Your journey has been amazing since inception, stellar releases, sensational videos and mixed bill gigs, festival appearances and let's be honest brilliant, engaging and mindblowing performances. Plus you are all lovely, intelligent, articulate people who personify what a true artist is; what is the ethos or drive that has propelled you so far in a short space of time? 

Kmyin: Wow, thank you for that… I haven’t really thought about it like that before. I think we all just love making music and art, and it is somewhat cathartic for all of us.  It brings us joy, and we want to share that joy and moments of magic with other people. We all like vibes: dark, mysterious, hyped energy vibes; in literature, music, art and interactions. I think we are all really motivated to learn and try to improve and do activities such as art, music, and change. 

Personally, I make music and write lyrics to express the need for social change because I have felt oppression as a queer NB person. I feel rage, sadness and see beauty and emotions in music and the lyrics I write and the songs we compose together. For me, this is a way to share alternative ideas about changing the world, building community or making life more beautiful through trials and tribulations. 

LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/Bloodinthechampagne

https://www.instagram.com/bloodinthechampagneband/

https://bloodinthechampagne.bandcamp.com/album/blood-in-the-champagne

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SO GRAB A TICKET ASAP AND START WORKING OUT HOW YOU CAN SEE EVERY BAND...SOMEHOW

KILLER PRICES TO BE HONEST;
Both venues: $75+BF
The Bendigo Hotel Only: $45+BF
Nighthawks Only: $35+BF

https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/a0628618-57f4-4ac0-bf2c-80c20fcceea7

ALL PICS ARE FROM THE ARTIST OR BAND'S SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES